Word: postwar
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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After last week's meeting in the Med, Secretary of State James Baker proclaimed, "We are moving into the post-postwar era." The postwar period began with the division of Europe after World War II; the stage of history now beginning is "post-post" insofar as that division is ending. The phrase, with its catchy double prefix, is well on its way to becoming a cliche on the op-ed pages and airwaves of the West. It helps experts who are groping for sound bites more erudite than "Wow!" as they ruminate about the astonishing pace of change in Europe...
...Malta meeting, White House aides -- and Bush himself -- had been putting a damper on expectations. But the President was determined all the while to arrive with proposals that would interest the Soviets and encourage the success of their reforms without turning the meeting into a wholesale renegotiation of the postwar order. Such a deal would be futile in any case. At Yalta in 1945 the victorious Allies could draw lines at will upon war-ravaged Europe. Now the ability of both superpowers to dictate events has been sharply circumscribed...
...should be no cause for concern that the Chancellor has laid out his vision for the future of Germany." The presentation did surprise Western capitals in one regard: Kohl had consulted none of them -- not even Paris, London and Washington, which, together with Moscow, are empowered by the postwar settlement to determine the conditions of reunification. His decision not to consult was a shrewd signal to everyone -- including, again, West German voters -- that reunification is pre-eminently a matter for Germans to decide...
Much of the attention to what critics call the "vernacular architecture" of the postwar era comes from baby boomers nostalgically intent on preserving the roadside attractions of their youth. Groups in six states are seriously studying some of the teepee-shape motels and iceberg-shape gas stations that still dot U.S. Route 66, once the main route from Chicago to Los Angeles. "These places are a part of our history," says Richard Gutman, author of American Diner. "They are being swept away at a pace that is astonishing...
Supermarkets, drive-ins, car washes, neon signs and other exuberant examples of the postwar building boom are being touted for preservation. Some have already been set aside as, yes, historic landmarks, touching off a debate among the experts over what is worth saving and what deserves only to be targeted for the wrecker's ball...